@HuangLao Agreed, let's keep it simple. This topic is mainly for Wheezy users, we aren't trying to switch people to using rc-init or sysv. I have an old desktop PC unplugged in my room that might run FreeBSD (it's Intel Celeron D CPU single core with ancient Nvidia card). If I find time, I will try messing with it. It has Xubuntu 14.04 on it, but that is EOL since April this year anyway.

HuangLao wrote:yeah, KDE is lighter then it was but in comparison to the hippo it used to be its still heavy. 1GB of RAM would be better for Xfce or a WM. There is LXDE or even LXQt in slackbuilds.org or you can use prebuilt binaries from Salix or AlienBobs repo (a slackware dev. Eric H.).

Keep in mind aliens repos do not track dependencies, so read the info/readme for the main package and it will list the dependencies. His VLC package has all the dependencies included in the package. Just install VLC and you get everything it needs including codecs.

Of course, you could also use slapt-get on Slackware and get the packages from Salix. Happy Slacking.

I think my question about KDE may have been answered, apparently Virtual Box and KDE don't like each other much [yes that topic is two years old but I would be surprised if the issue had been completely solved, especially drawing from my own experience].

This list of programs like slaptpkg, slapt-get and slapt-src can get a little confusing but I think I have my head around it. From what I can see neither slapt-get nor slapt-src are entirely necessary especially if one does a full install. However, I will install them because I like the apt system of doing things and it's good to have options.

Slackware 14.2 uses Mesa 11.x - not sure whether I should use these or the proprietary ATI drivers instead?

Lysander wrote: I think my question about KDE may have been answered, apparently Virtual Box and KDE don't like each other much [yes that topic is two years old but I would be surprised if the issue had been completely solved, especially drawing from my own experience].

This list of programs like slaptpkg, slapt-get and slapt-src can get a little confusing but I think I have my head around it. From what I can see neither slapt-get nor slapt-src are entirely necessary especially if one does a full install. However, I will install them because I like the apt system of doing things and it's good to have options.

Slackware 14.2 uses Mesa 11.x - not sure whether I should use these or the proprietary ATI drivers instead?

Stock install should work fine for drivers. Regarding package managers on Slackware, for those that like the benefit of the package manager not automatically installing dependencies then slackpkg and the extension slackpkg+, and sbopkg for slackbuilds source scripts are more then enough. slapt-get and slapt-src are for those that want dependencies automatically installed each time they install a program.

I am a pragmatic Debian user and prefer to use a system which I know well rather than chop and change.

My knowledge is essentially practical: I know stuff like how to set up and configure systems, backport programs and to solve many problems by consulting the man pages and online searches; however, I know very little about systemd and how it works. Similarly I knew very little about init. Like the linux kernel, the operating system itself, the inner workings of systemd are completely invisible to me except when I use certain commands to troubleshoot services.

So I know how to make things work but I don't know much about how they work. I know that if I follow a guide to installing, for example, postfixadmin, I can get it up and running but more often than not I don't know the whys and wherefores.

My pragmatism does not extend to using nonfree software just because it works; in fact I avoid it entirely. I am not a programmer (beyond a sprinkling of of html and the hello world program) or a developer; the only thing I can do is systems administration using bash or dash. So I don't have the technical expertise to know whether systemd is better or worse than init for me as a user,

Having said this, I would mention that I've converted an installation of "jessie" to Devuan and signed up for the forum over there. I think maintaining different options is better than a one-size-fits all approach and I hope to learn more about both init and systemd over the course of time.I have an interest in other operating systems like the BSDs but I already have more than enough on my plate with the complexity of perfecting just my email system to up sticks and move to, for example, FreeBSD, certainly not on my server.

I think I'd have far fewer problems in using a BSD as a desktop system and I definitely would move to a BSD if I were unable to use the Open Sound System (OSSv4) instead of ALSA in Debian.

Maybe it's time to try out Slackware. I've downloaded the .iso, gonna try it out tonight. There is a pretty active Serbian Slackware community on the net, so there's that. Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it

Wheelerof4te wrote:Maybe it's time to try out Slackware. I've downloaded the .iso, gonna try it out tonight. There is a pretty active Serbian Slackware community on the net, so there's that. Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it

Are you jumping right into Slackware or starting with SalixOS? Either way, feel free to post here or PM, or over at LinuxQuestions.org (Slackware sub thread). Lysander also plays around with Slackware so he can probably offer assistance as well.

Wheelerof4te wrote:^No Salix or anything like that. Just pure Slackware. I have plenty of time anyway to fix things, and my phone is my computer nowadays more time than I'm willing to admit.

Alright, I have an account at linuxquestion.org, will post if something goes south.EDIT: I got to the desktop, made my user, now to the upgrading process

review some of the notes I made earlier in the thread with the links etc... it will help alot regarding extra packages. slapt-get is similar enough to apt-get, it will take of dependencies automatically if you point it towards a Slackware repo that provides the info. is: you can run Slackware and use SalixOS as an extra repo, then you probably will not need to build any packages, unless of course you want to.

Wheeler, yes, please post here about your experiences or indeed at LQ: Huang and I are both regulars on the Slackware board. Good luck with it and do let us know about any issues you encounter. I personally go for third-party manual dependency resolution because I'm a masochist [in truth I find it more enjoyable, more controlled, and there's more to learn].

I tried the Slackware derivatives Salix and VectorLinux about six months ago. I was hoping that they would be noticeably faster than Debian (if only a little), but that was not the case. In fact, they both seemed a little sluggish compared to my customized Debian. I was also disappointed with the current state of package management. I was hoping it would have improved a lot by now.

Phil

“Property is the fruit of labor; property is desirable; it is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.” — Abraham Lincoln

pcalvert wrote:I tried the Slackware derivatives Salix and VectorLinux about six months ago. I was hoping that they would be noticeably faster than Debian (if only a little), but that was not the case. In fact, they both seemed a little sluggish compared to my customized Debian. I was also disappointed with the current state of package management. I was hoping it would have improved a lot by now.

Phil

Yup, package management is the same great stable method on Slackware (read a book from 20 years ago, and it will most likely still apply), unless you were referring to: that you hoped Debian's would have improved by now.